Geordie Greig becomes the first Old Etonian to edit a popular tabloid

It is tempting to note that the new editor of the Mail on Sunday is, like the prime minister, an Old Etonian. And I think he is the first from his school to editor a popular tabloid.

But the old school tie has never made any difference to the appointment of national pop paper editors, so it's probably irrelevant anyway.

In fact, it's even possible to joke that Greig has risen above his privileged background to achieve a journalistic first.

He has certainly proved himself at the London Evening Standard, having run two major campaigns that struck a popular chord - one about helping the dispossessed and another helping people overcome a lack of literacy.

Greig, now 51, but still exhibiting a boyish charm, has been something of a slow burn. He started off at a London weekly and worked his passage at the Daily Mail and Sunday Times before becoming editor of Tatler in 1999.

He did that job for 10 years and many a commentator thought it unlikely that he would ever return to newspapers.

So his decision to accept the Standard editorship in 2009 took the sceptics by surprise. Many were certain he wouldn't hack it.

In fact, he is now judged to have made a success of the job, keeping the Standard true to its traditional journalistic quality despite it becoming a free title.

The paper has been regularly distributing some 700,000 copies every weekday to people across the capital and has attracted a great deal of positive publicity for its content.

Greig exhibited considerable skill is overcoming the great political divide, managing to pioneer a path between Tory mayor Boris Johnson and his Labour rival Ken Livingstone.

Diplomacy comes naturally to Greig. But his next task is going to test his journalistic skills even more.

Peter Wright, the Mail on Sunday's outgoing editor, will be a tough act to follow. He has enjoyed 14 successful years himself at the helm of a paper that has often courted controversy.

It was thought that he might one day succeed Paul Dacre as editor of the Daily Mail. But Dacre is clearly very happy to keep hold of a job he relishes and is not prepared to stand aside.

I know that he has been impressed with the way Greig has run the Standard, a paper he still regards with affection and which, due to its 24.9% stake, DMGT remains connected.

As for Greig's replacement as acting Standard editor, Sarah Sands, it is a big chance for her to show her true editorial mettle.

She lost that opportunity in her previous editorship, of the Sunday Telegraph, because she was relieved from it too early - though she bequeathed that title with a magazine, Stella, that has stood the test of time.

This time, with Greig having provided a template, she will certainly have a good foundation to build on.